I have wanted to ride the Maratona for a few years now. In 2014 and 2015 I didn’t get picked in the draw. Last year I got together a few people and made a team application, which apparently increases the chance of getting a place. Sure enough I got in! I could look forward to what is said to be one of the best organized and prettiest sportives in the world.
I have ridden 2 major European sportives before. In 2012 it was a nightmare in the Marco Pantani Gran Fondo. I went too hard on the Gavia, nearly died on the Mortirolo and cut short my planned long route to the medium route. In 2013 I had decided to was time to get serious. I rode La Marmotte. With 5200m of climbing over 176km, it is a bit of a beast, especially when the weather is hot, which it was at about 38 degrees! I was very happy with my training and performance though. I snuck in a Gold Medal time and surpassing all of my goals I had made earlier in the year.
The Maratona has 4200m of climbing over 138km. It’s pretty hard, but not as bad as the Marmotte. I certainly didn’t have the fear this year, in fact I went to Italy with only 1300km of cycling behind me in 2016, including 2 100km+ rides and one 200km+ ride. I did my first real climbing of the year 1 week before the Maratona, climbing 2000m over 110km in Taunus. Continue reading “Maratona dles Dolomites”